Adoke’s many faulty steps

HIS coming was expected to bring changes to the Office of Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, considering the antecedents of his predecessor, Michael Aondoakaa. The joy that many expressed over Aondoakaa’s exit is fast disappearing because of the way his successor, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), is running the office of the nation’s chief law officer.

Adoke, appointed on April 6 last year, by then Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, seems to be in a contest with himself to break Aondoakaa’s record as the most villified Attorney-General the nation has ever had.

Adoke was expected to be refreshingly different from Aondoakaa. He was expected to toe a different line and energise the battle against graft that has constituted a major hindrance to the country’s development.

But recent developments show that the anti-corruption war is being crippled than helped under Adoke. Instead of prosecuting cases, Adoke is withdrawing high profile ones involving the influential from the court.

He is alleged to be in the habit of insisting on being briefed on cases being handled by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

Adoke is said to always hide under some provisions of Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution, which his predecessors such as Kanu Agabi (SAN), Bola Ige (SAN) and Bayo Ojo (SAN), never used mischieviously.

The section reads in part: “The AGF shall have power (a) to institute and undertake criminal proceedings against any person before any court of law in Nigeria, other than a court-martial, in respect of any offence created by or under any Act of the National Assembly; (b) to take over and continue any such criminal proceedings that may have been instituted by any other authority or person; and (c ) to discontinue at any stage before judgment is delivered any such criminal proceedings instituted or undertaken by him or any other authority or person.

“The powers conferred upon the AGF under sub-section (1) of this section may be exercised by him in person or through officers of his department.”

Aside from his interference in the activities of the various anti-graft agencies, Adoke also exhibits a predilection for entering nolle prosequi in matters pending against certain interests, particularly senior public officers, politicians and other high profile personalities.

In doing this, the AGF always hid under the provisions of Section 174(1&2) of the 1999 Constitution.

Section 174 (1) says: “The Attorney-General of the Federation shall have power:

(a) to institute and undertake criminal proceedings against any person before any court of law in Nigeria, other than a court-martial, in respect of any offence created by or under any Act of the National Assembly;

(b) to take over and continue any such criminal proceedings that may have been instituted by any other authority or person; and

(c) to discontinue at any stage before judgment is delivered any such criminal proceedings instituted or undertaken by him or any other authority or person.”

Sub-section two also provides: “The powers conferred upon the Attorney-General of the Federation under subsection one of this section may be exercised by him in person or through officers of his department.”

Critics argue that while the AGF’s powers in the Constitution in relation to entering nolle is undisputable, the Constitution also provides a check on the abuse of such powers as contained in Section 174 (3).

It says: “In exercising his powers under Section (174), the Attorney-General of the Federation shall have regard to the public interest, the interest of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process.”

They observed that Adoke exercises his power to withdraw cases without consideration for public interest; the need to prevent abuse and the interest of justice.

An instance of the AGF’s interference is the outcome of investigation into the $180 million Halliburton scandal. The main actors of the Halliburton case had been convicted in the United States of unethical business practices for bribing Nigerian officials with $180 million to secure the juicy contract to build the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) plant in Bonny.

All that was left was for Nigeria to follow up and use the case to send a clear message that time was up for such dubious foreign contractors, but the AGF suddenly withdrew the case under a paltry $30 million plea-bargain arrangement.

A case in which the AGF has exercised his discretionary power to take over or discontinue prosecution in a manner that raises public scepticism about his actual intention, is the one against the Minister of State for Health, Suleiman Bello, by the ICPC at the Federal High Court, Yola, Adamawa State.

The minister, who is standing trial for alleged N14.2 million fraud has refused to appear before the court, even in deference to the court as a national institution. In a manner suggestive of his shielding the minister from prosecution, Adoke (allegedly, without consultations with ICPC) suddenly wrote the commission to withdraw the case file. The AGF’s decision was contained in a letter signed by the Assistant Director, Department of Public Prosecution, Akin Akintewe, in his office.

Bello was alleged to have obtained the said sum by false pretence from the Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako, while serving as a Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in that state. Bello reportedly confessed to the crime.

But Adoke allegedly stepped in to stop Bello’s prosecution without first, informing the prosecuting agency of his intention. Many said he should have, for mere courtesy sake, informed the ICPC of his decision to halt the trial.

Other cases Adoke interfered with include those involving the Vaswani brothers; Police Equipment Fund case against Kenny Martins and others; the abrupt discharge of the case against ex-National Chairman of the PDP, Okwesilieze Nwodo; tactical delay in the prosecution of ex-National Chairman of PDP, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor; and Ransome Owan, former Chairman and six commissioners of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), implicated in a multi-billion naira financial scam.

Others are the stalled trial of ex-governors and ministers including Adamu Mua’zu, Bauchi (now given a fresh appointment by the government), Chimaroke Nnamani, Enugu (now a serving Senator and Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs), Rashidi Ladoja (Oyo), and Femi Fani-Kayode, among others; shielding of the Anosike brothers and their associates from trial over the looting of Daily Times’ assets estimated at about N3 billion, key suspects in Siemens scandal, among others. There is also the case involving former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Malam Nasir el-Rufai’s case; and Erastus Akingbola’s trial through paved return from exile and the return of some of his seized assets

When the Vaswanis were deported for alleged multi-billion naira tax evasion and forgery, the frontline businessmen were ready to defend their integrity in court, but Adoke filed a nolle prosequi. The case died. Nobody is sure how much the Vaswanis paid the government.

Adoke did little in the murder allegation against Senator Teslim Folarin in Ibadan, Oyo State. Instead, he withdrew the Lateef “Eleweomo” Salako murder case. Folarin was held for the killing of the motor park chief during the violence that erupted during the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary election in Ibadan. Straight from detention, Folarin was flown to the PDP convention in Abuja.

Of great concern are the roles played by the AGF in the case involving the ex-Bauchi State Governor. When Mu’azu appeared before a panel that investigated his alleged complicity in the mismanagement of about N22 billion of the state’s funds, Adoke was his lawyer. Mu’azu was indicted. The EFCC was set to try him, but Adoke thought the case had security implications and would amount to double jeopardy since the Bauchi government had instituted an action over the same matter.

It is heavily rumoured that Adoke is working towards obstructing the prosecution of Malam el-Rufai, linked to the alleged non-remittance of N32 billion proceeds of sold government properties in Abuja.

In frustrating the case against the ex-boss of the Police Equipment Fund, accused of misappropriating about N50 billion, the AGF was said to have first, withdrawn the fiat granted the prosecuting lawyer, Festus Keyamo, to prosecute the case for the EFCC.

In the Daily Times case, Justice Pat Ajoku of the Federal High Court, Lagos, rejected moves last year, by Adoke to withdraw the 21-count charge filed against the Anosike brothers.

The AGF had relied on his constitutional powers to discontinue cases, but Justice Ajoku held that although the AGF has the powers under Section 174 (1) (C) of the Constitution to institute criminal matter against anyone and discontinue same at any stage, such power must be exercised in accordance with the provision of sub-section three of the section.

The court further acknowledged the AGF’s unquestionable privilege to exercise such power of discontinuance, but held that he must fulfill the conditions precedent for the application of discontinuance.

It further held that such condition requires that the AGF appears in person to either apply orally or through a written permission, for the court to allow such discontinuance.

In further refusing the AGF’s application, Justice Ajoku observed that the prosecution was acting without the consent and cooperation of the complainant in the case. The judge held that the practice was that the complainant and prosecution ought to be in harmony in the trial of criminal cases, noting that it was different in this case.

The latest of Adoke’s interference in the activities of the various anti-graft agencies is the removal of the Acting-Chairman of ICPC, Dr. Uriah Angulu. He is believed to have been shoved off his position because of his insistence in the probe of alleged N6 billion fraud in the National Judicial Institute (NJI) and trial of a minister.

It is curious that Angulu was asked to proceed on terminal leave via a letter from Adoke’s office, dated March 12. The letter was said to have been informed by a directive by President Goodluck Jonathan to the AGF. Angulu’s removal caught most (ICPC) officials unawares because he was expected to complete his tenure of two terms in office as a commissioner in July.

The general belief is that Angulu’s removal was in connection with the presidency’s uncomfortable posture with the ‘recent combative anti-corruption drive of ICPC, a development that was supported by the report that top officials and workers of the NJI celebrated Angulu’s removal.

The development attracted condemnation from many observers, including a group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), which urged President Goodluck Jonathan to urgently rescind the recent decision to withdraw Bello’s case file.

SERAP in a letter to Jonathan and signed by its Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said: “There is no information that the Attorney-General is alleging abuse of the legal process by the ICPC, and as such the exercise of the constitutional power would appear to be arbitrary and unnecessary in this particular case.

“It would seem that the request by the Attorney-General for the original case file in this case is a deliberate attempt by the government to undermine the independence and integrity of the ICPC in the discharge of its statutory mandates.”

“We are also concerned about the executive interference in the work of the ICPC, and believe that apart from undermining the credibility of the ICPC, shielding suspected corrupt high ranking public officials from effective investigation or prosecution violates the provisions of the Constitution, the ICPC Act, and the UN Convention against Corruption, to which Nigeria is a state party.”

Bothered by the AGF’s exercise of his powers, 10 other civil society groups demanded his immediate resignation. They accused him of allegedly withdrawing more than 25 cases in court under 10 months in office.

The organisations include Zero-corruption Coalition; Civil society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), West African Civil Society Forum (WACSF), Centre for Democracy and Development(CDD), Women in Nigeria (WIN), Publish What You Pay(PWYP), Transparency in Nigeria(TIN) and Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD).

Others are Centre for the Development of Civil Society (CDCS); and the National Procurement Watch Platform (NPWP).

They noted that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in February last year, through its President, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), raised an alarm over attempts by the Federal Government to sweep the Halliburton scam under the carpet.

The organisations said:”A year after the clarion call, it is distressful to see the Attorney-General of the Federation and Justice Minister toeing the line of his predecessor-in-office, Chief Michael Aodoakaa who was unwilling to prosecute public officials involved and was shown the way out in circumstances that are dishonorable and disgraceful.

“It is clear that Bello Adoke (SAN) has demonstrated a total lack of commitment to the anti-corruption war and has aligned himself with the conspiracy to continue the cover-up.

“AGF Bello Adoke (SAN) has flagrantly violated sections 15(5) and 174 (3) of the 1999 Constitution when he set out to withdraw several cases on economic crimes against the public interest.”

Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Presidential candidate and former EFCC Chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu has equally asked President Goodluck Jonathan to remove Adoke.

Ribadu said: “President Goodluck Jonathan cannot be going around in his campaign, promising to fight corruption when his principal justice officer continually acts at variance to the will of good governance. We therefore call on President Jonathan to remove Adoke now.

“His action cannot be excused; our people live in extreme poverty. A World Bank report indicates that over 80 per cent of oil revenue benefits only one percent of the population and it attributes this to corruption. If therefore, the Jonathan government is truly sincere about providing good governance, it must fight corruption to a standstill so that our people will eventually smile as their resources would be judiciously used in providing dividend of democracy.”

Adoke has justified his actions by claiming that the cases he withdrew were prosecutorally defective.

The AGF was quoted in an on-line medium – Pointblanknews.com – as saying that “series of anomalies” in cases handled by the EFCC and the ICPC informed why his office decided to take over most of the high-profile criminal cases.

He described the cases cited as those with anomalies.

Adoke was further quoted to have said he was particularly prompted by a petition written by Chief Kanu Agabi, one of his predecessors, alleging flagrant abuse of due process by the EFCC in the case involving the Vaswani brothers and other employees of the Stallion Group.”

On the case involving Muazu the AGF said because of the series of sectarian crises, “I, therefore, urged that due care should be taken in the investigation so as to strike a delicate balance between national security and the fight against corruption.”

Adoke added: “I didn’t stop the EFCC from investigating Ahmed Muazu. My robust consideration of the case was to avoid a situation where the plea of double jeopardy will be successfully upheld to the embarrassment of the Government.

“I was also of the view that since the Bauchi State Government, the state where the allegations took place, was already seized of the matter and had instituted criminal proceedings, it was better to allow such proceedings run its course in order to avoid abuse of process.”

On Bello’s case, the AGF said the case file prepared by the ICPC revealed that while it was being prosecuted by Mr. Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), a private legal practitioner, a fiat has not been issued to him by the office of the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice to prosecute the accused.

On why Angulu was asked to step aside, Adoke said the Acting ICPC chairman was removed because he was unqualified to hold the position. Adoke said it was wrong for the former Chairman, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, to have unilaterally made Angulu Acting Chairman without following due process.

He said Angulu was not sacked but asked to step aside.